


The Emperor Casts Three Shadows

by Sordine



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Black Eagles route, Post-Time Skip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 03:21:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20185414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sordine/pseuds/Sordine
Summary: For empires are not won all on one's own.(short musings on an Emperor and her closest advisors)





	The Emperor Casts Three Shadows

**Author's Note:**

> THANKS FIRE EMBLEM FOR DRAGGING ME BACK TO WRITING AFTER A LITERAL DECADE
> 
> No specific spoilers other than just, idk, the general existence and concept of the Black Eagles route.
> 
> ART, MAGNIFICENT ART, IS FROM THE LOVELY TEA (who can be found on her twitter! - https://twitter.com/affectionatetea)

The Emperor casts three shadows. 

Demons all, but the first is one of Edelgard's own making. The oldest is with her always - born of her darkest nights, it finds purpose when she turns her back on a world that would have stolen her every memory of the sun.

A demon in shape, horns growing from the crown that was her birthright and her conquest, the first shadow she casts is long indeed. It announces her arrival to a battle and lingers even when she does not, already turned from her victory to the next step she must take. 

But the Emperor casts _ three _ shadows. 

A demon in whispers, an emperor needs one who will do the things even they cannot and House Vestra has always been happy to oblige. While Hubert may have been serving the crown at first, no one can deny that now he ties himself to her as close as her own shadow. Conquering an entire continent is dark work, the line between rightful emperor and bloodthirsty tyrant is a fine one, and so her hands must only run with righteous blood. 

But there is so much blood to spill. His shall be the hands that one can never truly connect to her, there and gone faster than the shade from a leaf in the breeze. Helpful coincidences and things she shall never learn of – her path will never be an easy one, but he will steal forward to level the road.

Yet the Emperor casts _ three _ shadows. 

Is it a demon tamed, or is it a demon that has done the taming? Both are said of Byleth, and none have ever determined which is the truth. Certainly, those who oppose her cursed her name long before she donned the eagles' red; the unflinching knife to the Blade Breaker's sword has long been feared by those in the dark. Whether she is cast in the cool emotionless blues of stone, or the riotous green of the first shoots of spring, even those who first saw her across the professor's lectern can't help but be wary. 

Yet no one can deny her devotion to her emperor, whose every step she guards like her own. She claims no reward, no title nor fame, yet focuses all the impossible powers that swirl around her to shape her Emperor's vision. She is tangible in a way Edelgard's first shadows are not - not the gasp that precedes her nor the hush that follows, but the silver song of an axe set on its course. 

And so the solitary Emperor sits on her throne, determined to rewrite the very world around her, but she is not alone. 

For remember:

The Emperor casts three shadows.


End file.
